*Get "Hammer House of Horror- The Complete Series" on Amazon here*
*Get A History of Horrors: The Rise and Fall of the House of Hammer by Denis Meikle on Amazon here*
A messy but effective episode starts with the violent death of a young boy.
William (Christopher Reilly) is wandering around his botanist father Terence's (Gary Bond) laboratory one night. He ingests some day-glo powder that is meant for Terence's experiments on rabbits, convulses after running out of the house, and dies in front of his father and mother Laurie (Barbara Kellerman). Without missing a beat, the couple adopt another boy about the same age named James (a really great Matthew Blakstad). We begin to learn more about William's relationship with his parents, and James brings an awkward and sinister presence into the house.
I found it interesting that screenwriter Nicholas Palmer didn't go for the tried-and-true cliche of a new evil kid being brought in to replace a couple's golden boy. Terence and Laurie have many flaws (he's a botanist trying to save the world from starvation, she has committee meetings and is away to London, both too busy for their son), and the weird James might actually be the most sane in the family. Director Francis Megahy has some good scenes, and there is a sloppy feel to the episode that is nice. The story is attacked full-on, without a lot of nuance or subtlety, and moves quickly (if you don't think about things too much).
One thing I've noticed while binge-watching this thirteen episode series, this being the fourth episode, is that the producers haven't relied on jump scares to grab the audience. Wow, back when an audience made a film maker work for their fright! Another pretty good episode.
-Unrated, contains physical violence, violence against children, gore, adult situations, alcohol use, some drug references
